Block

Discovery
I was lucky enough to listen to Swiss designer Bruno Monguzzi speak yesterday, and it was interesting hear him speak of design as one of problem solving. He said, "You do not need to come up with the answer… It is right in front of you. All you have to do is look hard enough. The answer is right there."


With this methodology, it seems there should be a calming resolution once the answer is discovered, but there isn't really. You finish with a project and so many new questions arise. Monguzzi himself pointed out, it's difficult to pick a work of his he likes the most, because all he sees are his, "Missed opportunities."

When I consider my project, there is this knee-jerk reaction to want something pedagogical, a clean, 'academic' resolution to a problem with an equally considered aesthetic counterpart. Experience should tell me that, without exception, none of my projects have found harmony so easily.

Over the past few days, I've been trying to revisit a few projects I truly struggled with, hoping to understand how I moved beyond my intuition and refined the scope. Naturally, there's no how-to guide to overcome a mental block. Detachment has proven the best path at times.

It's aggravating to look vacantly on one side of an impasse, unable to see around its periphery. As it stands, my current idea is three-fold:

1. Work with the Roosevelt Institute to create a consistent and identifiable visual brand over the course of the year

2. Study and the target specific student demographics to increase event attendance and membership

3. Create a design standards publication that outlines both the research and design choices for use by future members

The concept is not all too troublesome, but it seems there is a component lacking. Consider these three steps as one part of the equation. I am essentially a design consultant for the Roosevelt Institute. The other part of the calculation is what I get, beyond simple satisfaction. What revelation occurs to me over the course of the project that I am yet unable to see?

Being objective, while I may greatly enjoy this project over the course of the year, I don't see what could be revealed to me that I could not understand now. Part of the beauty in design and art is not just the outcome, but a clarity that arises in the act of making. Clarity shouldn't be mistaken for answers, rather just a unique understanding of one's own work and how it relates to the environment around it. It might even raise more questions than it answers, that could even be the intent.

From an early age, we are taught to ignore intuition and to reconsider our gut feelings logically before acting upon them. In spite of this, I've found a wealth of opportunity through that small, illogical voice and I've come to trust it a great deal. Due to that, I'm reluctant to forsake my ideas entirely. It might be that I'm simply missing an opportunity, within what I've already defined, to do something I cannot yet see or understand.

One comforting notion is that my mind is wandering with specificity. At the beginning, my thoughts circled the broad and complex issues of Metro Detroit, legal immigration, and public transportation, but even as they've narrowed to a small student group on campus, there is a continuous feature—public policy.

What Next
It's most important for me to understand that I have time. This is not a decision that will be made between now and Tuesday, nor does need to be. Pressure will likely exacerbate existing fear. Simply, I need to be consumptive of other ideas, not just to take my mind away from the task at hand, but allow it to dawdle in another area I'd not yet considered.

How I Spent My Time
Aside from spending time in Monguzzi's lecture, I took the time to read two Ladislav Sutnar books which were chiefly about legibility and continuity within information systems. Further, I attended a Roosevelt Institute meeting—from which the bulk of my frustration now stems—and spent time talking to the two co-presidents about their intentions for the year.

I also found myself spending a lot of time looking through the design section of Ted Talks, not just that of Jacek Utko mentioned in an earlier post, but also David Carson.